Don't Sweat the Small Stuff-- and It's All Small Stuff Simple Ways to Keep the Little Things from Taking Over Your Life

Monday, January 05, 2004 I found this book a quick read. It's not a particularly deep book but it does have some practical advice for keeping things in perspective (a very good thing when one is unemployed and trying to provide for one's family). The bit that fascinated me the most is that the author is from the Bay Area so some of his specific examples hit very close to home. I am sending this book along to another Bay Area resident who I hope will enjoy this book too.

Its a good one, but I felt a bunch of ideas got repeated in the book

I haven't finished a book in awhile so I'm really excited to finish this! I listened to the audiobook starting around 6:30pm and put it on background as I do chores for the evening, and finished it around 11:30pm just in time for bed. Lately I really appreciate books that I can finish in one sitting because it's so so hard to come back to a book for me. I wouldn't say there was anything life-changing or surprising in this book. We would all agree with the advice it gives and may have come to the same conclusions already. I think this is a good book to listen to in the background as a reminder to live out these values.

I'm one of those strange people who finds self-help and productivity books useful and interesting, at least on the whole. This was neither. There are ideas here that may be new to some, but which I didn't find particularly helpful - like 'try to be less stressed - go for walks sometimes'. And as with many other self help books, it's appallingly repetitive - the same ideas come back several times. I attempted to stick with it into chapter 2, but between the poor narration of the audiobook, and the inexpert and irritating writing style, I couldn't finish. Not for me.

Bubblegum! A pleasant and easy read. I can imagine this being someone's bedside table book, and the little 2-4 page chapters could serve as nice nightly reminders of ways to enjoy and appreciate little things in life. I definitely stand by my 'bubblegum' descriptor though - these are nice thoughts and stories, but they barely skim the surface of the deep struggles life may serve.